After Ola row, Kunal Kamra asks Blinkit CEO to reveal wages of delivery partners
Mumbai: After a verbal spat with Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal over customer complaints and faulty deliveries, comedian Kunal Kamra began 2025 by shedding light on the exploitation of gig workers in the quick commerce sector.
Blinkit CEO, Albinder Dhindsa, posted live updates on X about the most-ordered items on the platform. He wrote: “1,22,356 packs of condoms, 45,531 bottles of mineral water, 22,322 Partysmart, 2,434 Eno..are enroute right now! Prep for party?”
Kamra responded by questioning the wages of Blinkit’s delivery partners. “Can you also enlighten us with data on the average wages you paid your ‘Delivery Partners’ in 2024?” he asked Dhindsa, putting “delivery partners” in quotes, a reference to the fact that companies often avoid labeling delivery workers as employees, instead designating them as “partners.”
In a follow-up post, Kunal Kamra elaborated on the dark side of quick commerce, noting that platform owners exploit gig workers. “While we enjoy the convenience of quick commerce I’d like my first tweet of 2025 to be about the dark side,” he wrote.
“Platform owners exploit gig workers and they aren’t job creators. They are landlords without owning any land. They don’t have a bone of creativity or innovation all they do is exploit people by offering them freedom that they can’t afford while giving them wages that can’t meet their aspirations,” he added.
Kamra further criticised the business model, comparing platform owners to “thugs” who use "data as oil without paying for the oil fields." He added that someday there will be regulation that humbles them.
Other social media users echoed Kamra’s concerns, pointing out the lack of creativity and exploitation in the industry. One user commented, “Blinkit, Zepto, Zomato, Swiggy. All of them. Zero creativity- only exploitation. The delivery workers are stretched to a great extent for compensation that is not justified at all. 10 mins delivery isn’t a landmark thing tbh. It’s sheer exploitation of humanity to satisfy the ego & whims of the buyer.”
Can you also enlighten us with data on the average wages you paid your “Delivery Partners” in 2024… https://t.co/v0yBlvobCQ
— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) December 31, 2024
While we enjoy the convenience of quick commerce I’d like my first tweet of 2025 to be about the dark side.
— Kunal Kamra (@kunalkamra88) December 31, 2024
Platform owners exploit gig workers & they aren’t job creators.
They are landlords without owning any land.
They don’t have a bone of creativity or innovation all…
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
50 elephants electrocuted in four years in Karnataka
Bengaluru: Karnataka has witnessed the tragic deaths of 50 elephants over the past four years due to electrocution, with the Madikeri division reporting the highest number of such fatalities. In this division alone, eight elephants were electrocuted, while another 12 deaths were recorded within the state's tiger reserves, underscoring the urgent need to address this issue.
The number of elephants in Karnataka have increased steadily, rising from 6,049 in 2017 to 6,395 by early 2023. Despite this apparent success in conservation efforts, the rising number of elephant electrocutions has raised alarms among wildlife activists, particularly as many habitats are being disrupted by expanding 'development' projects.
Nagaraj, a resident from Padavinangady in Mangaluru, filed a request seeking district-wise data on elephants killed due to electrocution from 2021 to 2024. In response, the forest department provided division-wise figures, including details of electrocutions within protected areas.
Alarmingly, 19 elephant deaths have occurred in zones where wildlife is supposed to receive the highest levels of protection. These include the Nagarahole tiger reserve with 5 deaths, Bandipur tiger reserve with 4, BRT tiger reserve with 3, and the Shivamogga wildlife division with 3. Other affected areas include Cauvery wildlife sanctuary with 3 deaths and Bannerghatta National Park with 1 death.
